In our future office/guestroom we would like to install a work surface along one of the walls. What would be the best way to fix it to the wall (reinforced concrete) and to support it; legs or wall brackets?. Considering it would be used mostly by myself and my teenage daughters, how high and deep should it be? It would also need cut-outs for power cables and computer peripherals etc. The wall is 420cm long and I would like it to run the entire length. Bear in mind there will be a wall-mounted Plasma TV above it (and I need a space for my PS4 ). Also, what would the best material; plastic, MDF, wood? I'm thinking more along the lines of functionality rather than aesthetics and ideally we would have free-standing IKEA drawers or storage cabinets underneath, doubling up as work-station separators (these could also act as supports, of course).

__________________Do you know what "nemesis" means? A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent. Personified in this case by an 'orrible c**t... me - Bricktop

I bought a length of kitchen type work surface from Jumbo and 4 height adjustable legs (screw up/down) from Ikea (sold individually).
Has the benefit of being able to be moved (or removed) and height changed to suit changing requirements.

I bought a length of kitchen type work surface from Jumbo and 4 height adjustable legs (screw up/down) from Ikea (sold individually).
Has the benefit of being able to be moved (or removed) and height changed to suit changing requirements.

Legs, cabinets or simply clamps fixing to the wall depends on aesthetics (people always say they don't care, then are surprised stuff looks like crap), functionality (storage, type of chair used, how to clean). Cabinets can be deadly on your knees.

Material of the table itself depends on aesthetics and structural integrity - how big is the thing? After a certain length, wood, or the lowest cousin MDF, will bend. But glass is not payable after a certain length (and after 1.20 meters it has to be security glass in case of break).

So yeah... Kinda hard to tell you more...

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Run a baton of 4x2 or something similar, the whole length of the surface you need. Then you just need legs at the front, and you rest the back of the surface on the baton, easy. I would draw a diagram but you could probably find something online.

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I bought a length of kitchen type work surface from Jumbo and 4 height adjustable legs (screw up/down) from Ikea (sold individually).
Has the benefit of being able to be moved (or removed) and height changed to suit changing requirements.

Although Paddy will need a lot more than 4 legs for 4.2m.

Paddy: If you are set on a fixed height- I would screw wooden battens to the rear wall and side walls using heavy duty fixings for concrete.
Then I'd sit the worktop on that and screw it to the underside through the battens, and have a couple of legs (or maybe more depending on the type of worksurface and thickness at the front for support (creating three areas between walls/legs).

The advantage of this is the worktop will be rock solid and how many people actually regularly change the height of their desks/tables anyway?

Last edited by Tom1234; 09.12.2015 at 14:15.
Reason: Looks like Tobias says the same and posted at the same time!

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Run a baton of 4x2 or something similar, the whole length of the surface you need. Then you just need legs at the front, and you rest the back of the surface on the baton, easy. I would draw a diagram but you could probably find something online.

Paddy: If you are set on a fixed height- I would screw wooden battens to the rear wall and side walls using heavy duty fixings for concrete.
Then I'd sit the worktop on that and screw it to the underside through the battens, and have a couple of legs (or maybe more depending on the type of worksurface and thickness at the front for support (creating three areas between walls/legs).

The advantage of this is the worktop will be rock solid and how many people actually regularly change the height of their desks/tables anyway?

Yes, this sounds like the kind of thing we have in mind. Question: how about passing cables through the worktop? I imagined having semi-circles cut on order into the rear of surface, but then the batons would partially block these (unless I used shorter batons with gaps at the appropriate locations). Or, I could borrow a jigsaw and cut round holes into the surface. I would need some form of plastic cover on the inside of these holes to protect the cables from catching and fraying; what the hell are they called and where would I find them? I would also have to work out how to transport a 420 x 80 plank and 420cm long batons to my place. Would it be as stable if I used 2 or 3 shorter batons? I can't see why it wouldn't.

__________________Do you know what "nemesis" means? A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent. Personified in this case by an 'orrible c**t... me - Bricktop

I've recently done some DIY in our Keller, and learnt, If you need to drill the concrete, then its worth buying 'profi' masonary drill bits. As the budget, or even 'good' drill bits which are often sold in multi packs just aren't hard enough for tough concrete.

I wouldn't mount it fixed to the wall. On the one hand, depending on what kind of work you will be doing on it it may pull itself out of the wall. Additionally, some activities (sewing) are a lot easier if what you are working on can be allowed to fall off the far edge of the worksurface.

Were it me I would make 2 2m long freestanding tables and arrange some way to join them together. (most work surface materials only come in 2.6 m lengths, iirc).

I've recently done some DIY in our Keller, and learnt, If you need to drill the concrete, then its worth buying 'profi' masonary drill bits. As the budget, or even 'good' drill bits which are often sold in multi packs just aren't hard enough for tough concrete.

I wouldn't mount it fixed to the wall. On the one hand, depending on what kind of work you will be doing on it it may pull itself out of the wall. Additionally, some activities (sewing) are a lot easier if what you are working on can be allowed to fall off the far edge of the worksurface.

Were it me I would make 2 2m long freestanding tables and arrange some way to join them together. (most work surface materials only come in 2.6 m lengths, iirc).

It would almost exclusively be for office-work and studying (and possibly model-building ), but I see your point; flexibility is not to be sneezed at.

Double freestanding tables are more versatile. If you have a 4000x800 table attached to the wall you would only be able to make long thin models, an aircraft carrier, or a Trident Submarine, and even then only on one side at a time... but with 2 separate tables you can pull them out from the wall and work on both side, or you could rearrange them to 2000x1600. Think "Large scale Vulcan Bomber"

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Double freestanding tables are more versatile. If you have a 4000x800 table attached to the wall you would only be able to make long thin models, an aircraft carrier, or a Trident Submarine, and even then only on one side at a time... but with 2 separate tables you can pull them out from the wall and work on both side, or you could rearrange them to 2000x1600. Think "Large scale Vulcan Bomber"

I have just built a study using Linnmon and Alex - creating an L shape desk batoned on 1 wall with the units acting as "legs"

Linnmon is nasty to work with as it is very thin laminate with a cardboard core. When you join them you need very small guide holes and thick/short screws. I'm happy with the overall result considering the outlay

I have just built a study using Linnmon and Alex - creating an L shape desk batoned on 1 wall with the units acting as "legs"

Linnmon is nasty to work with as it is very thin laminate with a cardboard core. When you join them you need very small guide holes and thick/short screws. I'm happy with the overall result considering the outlay

Thanks DK, that's handy to know. I'm veering away from using batons and fixing the work surface, as I'd like the flexibility to use the tables for other purposes; parties, BBQs etc. The Alex units we might add later on, if needed.

I have just built a study using Linnmon and Alex - creating an L shape desk batoned on 1 wall with the units acting as "legs"

Linnmon is nasty to work with as it is very thin laminate with a cardboard core. When you join them you need very small guide holes and thick/short screws. I'm happy with the overall result considering the outlay

I'm planning on doing a straight desk with the Alex, but this thread has convinced me to go with a kitchen worksurface. They're harder wearing.